39 Essex Chambers

Different practice areas naturally come with their own pros and cons. One tenant with a construction and international arbitration practice tells us that it is “very busy, very pressured, but also very rewarding”. Court of Protection work, which is a big area for the set, is great because “you are able to help people”. Meanwhile, a tenant specialising in planning and environment law, for which 39 Essex also has a leading reputation, notes that this area “has a great mixture of law and politics, and is usually about the future as opposed to past mistakes”.

Whichever practice areas they work in, tenants at 39 Essex tell us that their work is “consistently stimulating, raising interesting points of law and compelling factual scenarios”. Given the set’s reputation, 39 Essex often receives instructions in high-value, high-profile cases. As one tenant says, “I regularly work on the highest profile cases in my practice areas”, while another adds: “the work I do often makes the national news”. Previous cases have involved civil claims for injury and losses arising out of the Grenfell Tower fire, construction plans for a dual-carriageway road tunnel at Stonehenge, and domestic inquiries such as the Hillsborough Inquiry and Soham Inquiry. It certainly seems that there is “never a dull day” at 39 Essex.

Over the past year or so, tenants have continued to work on a wide range of exciting cases. Alan Payne KC represented Tortoise Media in the Court of Appeal in its claim concerning journalists’ right to information relating to the Conservative Party leadership vote which resulted in the appointment of Liz Truss as Prime Minister. Five 39 Essex members — Emily Formby KC, Nicola Greaney KC, Fiona Paterson KC, Katharine Scott and Nicola Kohn — were involved in a successful appeal by a brain-injured claimant after anonymity was refused in lower court proceedings, while a further three barristers — Parishil Patel KC, Vikram Sachdeva KC and Adam Fullwood — also acted in a Court of Appeal judgment with substantial implications for medical treatment decisions concerning adults lacking capacity.

In sport, Lord Dyson and Gary Hickinbottom sat on the Premier League Appeal Board which upheld a six-point deduction imposed on Leicester City F.C. for breaching Profitability and Sustainability Rules, while Kate Grange KC acted for Nottingham Forest in its successful application for the recusal of an arbitrator on grounds of apparent bias. Quite the variety!

When it comes to work-life balance, one tenant at 39 Essex notes that “by nature of being a busy set, life boundaries get pushed, but the clerks are very sympathetic and helpful when you need time off or to pull back a bit to get respite”. The set is said to be big on wellbeing, with a mental health programme including training, a wellbeing officer, a mental health first aider, mentoring, and a buddy system. There is also a “strict 9-6 policy for pupils”, with “most members of chambers taking pride in enforcing it if they see any pupils trying to work later than that”.

More broadly, 39 Essex is described as a “genuinely supportive and nurturing environment”. One tenant tells us: “while it might be counterintuitive for somewhere large to be extra friendly, it is. Maybe it is that when there is such a wide diversity of people, there is no one ‘type’.” There is also an open-door policy throughout the set, meaning that if someone is stuck on a piece of work, they can pop into other tenants’ rooms and ask for help. One tenant had this to say: “Colleagues are always super helpful with any work queries or dilemmas. The various chambers WhatsApp groups are absolute lifelines, particularly when you’re in an unexpected crisis and need answers to questions or scenarios you’ve never encountered before. Colleagues are all very generous with their time.” Those working remotely can likewise be reached through the set’s WhatsApp groups.

Tenants at 39 Essex also enjoy socialising together. There are “regular drinks on a Friday attended by everyone from the most junior juniors all the way to the silks”. One tenant reassures us that “not going to chambers drinks is no barrier to social engagement. There are multiple ways of keeping in touch, including monthly chambers lunches for staff, barristers, and pupils all together, and the occasional dinner.”

In terms of location, 39 Essex’s London office is “borderline equivalent to a law firm in the quality of the building”. Following a move to modern premises in Chancery Lane, the set’s London home provides a range of facilities including showers, kitchens, underground bike storage, and even a games room. Some members note that a little of the charm of more traditional settings is lost, with “no coal fires or views over Temple Gardens”, but this is compensated for by modern members’ rooms with “decent coffee and air conditioning”. As one tenant put it: “I really wanted the old fashioned barristers’ chambers with wood panelling, but functioning lifts, proper clerking facilities and fab conference rooms have their benefits!”

The IT team are also said to be “awesome and incredibly responsive”, going out of their way to be helpful. Video conferencing capability is available in every conference room, and tenants again describe the facilities as more akin to those found in a law firm than a chambers.

For those interested in applying for pupillage at 39 Essex Chambers, applications should be made through Pupillage Gateway. The set offers up to four pupillages per year, each with an award of £70,000. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to a first-round interview focusing on a legal problem as well as situational judgement questions. Those who impress will be invited back to a more extensive second-round interview, for which they will be sent a case in advance to form part of the discussion. Topical and application-based questions will also be posed.

39 Essex looks to recruit pupils with intellectual ability, oral and written expression, interpersonal skills, commitment, resilience, efficiency, and interests in one or more of the set’s areas. The set encourages applications from under-represented groups at the Bar and participates in schemes such as Bridging the Bar.

Those who successfully obtain pupillage can expect to spend their year sitting with four different pupil supervisors covering public law, environment and planning, commercial/construction, and civil liability. They will typically only complete work for these supervisors. During their first six, pupils will be drafting documents and helping prepare their supervisors’ cases. In the second six, they will begin to take on their own cases, typically small claims or interim applications in larger matters.

Current and past pupils describe pupillage at 39 Essex as “a key sell for chambers”, with a strong emphasis on training and regular feedback. As one pupil attests: “Pupil supervisors are incredibly supportive and understanding that pupillage can be a stressful year. Their friendliness and time in giving feedback has been excellent. Beyond that, the juniors have been wonderful at sitting down with us to chat through our first cases and at being on call for last minute calls and evening sessions to prepare us for getting on our feet.” Continual training is also provided beyond pupillage.

The pupillage experience

Pupillage at 39 covers four ‘seats’: (1) Commercial & Construction, (2) Civil Liability, (3) Public, and (4) Planning, Environmental, and Property. Each seat lasts between 10 to 12 weeks and has two or three supervisors. Most of your time is spent doing written work for your supervisors, but you also get to observe court hearings and conferences. Across the year, this means you get exposure to a huge range of 39’s practice areas.

Throughout pupillage, members of Chambers also gave up their own time to run workshops covering everything from advocacy skills to ethics in practice, meaning we finished pupillage as well rounded as possible.

We also have a practising second six, where we do our own hearings. But supervisors still ensure that our diaries are carefully managed so that there is enough time to do assessed work too.

This wide-ranging experience does not come at the expense of pupils’ personal lives though: at 39, pupils start at 9:00am, finish at 6:00pm, and do not work on evenings or weekends. This isn’t just good for your wellbeing; it also teaches you to be focused and efficient in a way that is invaluable when starting tenancy.

The pupillage assessment process at 39 is completely transparent. You get written and oral feedback on every single piece of work you do, as well as supervisor reports at the halfway point and end of each seat. These reports assess your performance against the same criteria as apply during the pupillage application process: intellectual ability, expressive ability, interpersonal skills, and commitment, drive and efficiency. There are also oral advocacy assessments, and two blind marked written assessments, where you also get detailed feedback.

Importantly, you know where you stand at every stage of the process, and when it comes to the tenancy decision, this is based on an objective assessment of your performance throughout the year. There is no Chambers’ wide vote, and you won’t be thrown out if you once forgot to hold the door open for someone.

There is no denying that pupillage is a challenging process, but I really did feel that my supervisors were supportive and constructive in their feedback, and importantly, that 39 wants their pupils to succeed.

What is the culture of chambers?

When I told other legal professionals that I was going to do pupillage at 39, the response would invariably be “They are a such lovely set” — and it’s true!

39 is a huge set, but with a very collegiate vibe. We aren’t stuffy or hierarchical; rather, members of all levels of seniority have answered my pleas for help when I am stuck, no matter how early or late in the day it is. We are also a social bunch, with weekly Chambers drinks, monthly Chambers lunches, and seasonal parties; but there’s also always someone around for lunch or a drink after work.

We also have a great clerking team, who not only manage our diaries seamlessly, but who also proactively organise networking events so that we can meet new clients and strengthen existing connections. All barristers also get regular practice review meetings to make sure the clerks know how you want your practice to develop, so they can help you to do so.

I also think 39 has the best of both worlds when it comes to location: we are a stone’s throw from the Royal Courts of Justice, but in a fantastically modern building. This means each individual room is temperature controlled, there’s a coffee machine on every floor, and there are plenty of conference rooms that can be booked for remote hearings. Our amazing in-house IT team also tend to solve technical issues quicker than you can say “Have you tried turning it off and on again”, the importance of which can only really be appreciated when you are about to enter a remote hearing and your microphone decides to stop working.

Top tips for wanting to become a barrister / secure a pupillage at your chambers

1. Do your research. What does each set actually do? Don’t just look at who has been in the Supreme Court recently, but also what the baby juniors have been doing. How can you show that you want to do the same? Do a mini-pupillage, listen to Chambers’ podcasts, and read their blogs, and don’t just say that you’ve done these things — explain why you liked them, and why this makes you want to work there.
2. Think outside the box. For example, everyone knows that you need some sort of advocacy experience when applying for pupillage, and the standard ways of doing this are by mooting at university and/or volunteering for organisations such as the Free Representation Unit. I was no moot queen at university, and places on FRU training courses appear to be the legal equivalent of Glastonbury tickets. So, instead, I got a job where part of my role was to participate in Tribunal case management hearings, which gave me real life advocacy experience which was great for applications.
3. Be yourself. Trying to make sure you tick the right boxes in pupillage applications and interviews can mean you forget to let your personality shine through. You are far more than a string of qualifications and employment history, and certainly my interviewers wanted to hear far more about my balcony garden than they did about my law degree. You don’t need to have run a marathon or speak seven languages (otherwise I’d have never got pupillage) — just be your authentic self.